To death or greatness

The sound of their footsteps echoed through the silent halls of the huge school. Aki looked around, mesmerised by the beautiful and luxurious halls and decorations. Kelain walked silently ahead of him, lost in thought, until Aki ran beside him and asked "Where are we going?

Kelain was silent for a few moments before he looked at Aki and replied, "To the leader.

"The leader? You mean the school?"

"Yes!"

Aki was silent for a while before he thought about it and asked again, "Are you a student here?"

"Yes, Gyoko High is the school of all exorcists," Kelain replied, his tone as cold as his expression.

Aki was shocked and surprised before Kelain continued, "Everyone has to learn.

Aki didn't ask or say anything more and they walked in silence again, their footsteps echoing in the halls. Aki took it all in, it was all happening so fast and it felt so unreal.

They walked and walked, the school was huge and the corridors never ended. They walked until they finally reached a lift at the end of the hall, it was the first Japanese school Aki had ever seen that had a working and fancy lift. They entered the lift quietly and Kelain pressed one of the golden fancy buttons. The lift shook before it began its slow descent.

They stood silently as the lift slowly descended, the golden buttons flashing every second.

'Are we going under the school?' Aki wondered.

His question was soon answered as the lift came to a complete stop, he took a deep breath as the door opened. Kelain didn't spare a glance or a word, just waited for the doors to open and walked out, Aki following nervously behind. Aki wondered why he had to come, but all he wanted was for Hero to stay out of trouble and to apologise for him, especially to these people.

As they walked in silence, Aki looked around and noticed that the design resembled that of a Minka, it felt like he was in a Minka, the walls, the floors, everything. Were they still in the school? he wondered. They passed several fusumas until Kelain stopped abruptly in front of one. Aki stood behind him, nervous and sweating. Kelain started to take off his shoes without saying a word, Aki wondered why they hadn't taken them off a long time ago, but said nothing and did the same. He saw Kelain take a deep breath before slowly opening the fusuma. Kelain walked in calmly and Aki followed, his heart pounding and sweating.

The moment he walked in, Kelain bowed and said "Motoyama Kouchou-sensei". Aki quickly bowed as well, nervously repeating "M-Motoyama Kouchou Sensei" after Kelain. They remained bowing until they heard a soft and gentle chuckle from the old man. They slowly lifted their heads to see an old man with a long braided white beard, a bold head and a warm smile sitting on a tatami mat. He was wearing a black and white kimono with the title of the school, the same as on Nabara's shirt.

His gesture and warm smile made Aki feel more comfortable and at ease. Motoyama smiled again before asking, "I know Hibani, but who might you be?"

It took Aki a while to realize that Motoyama was talking to him before he hurriedly and nervously replied "Kuma Akira!" while bowing. Motoyama just chuckled before he turned to Kelain and asked: "How have you been, Hibani?"

"I've been fine, Sensei," he replied while bowing.

Motoyama smiled at his answer before quickly getting to the point and calmly asking Kelain: "I heard from Kushiyagi that you not only failed to find and bring back the Gyuko, but you also let it be eaten by an evil spirit...". His eyes narrowed on Kelain and cold drops of sweat trickled down his pale face.

Kelain cleared his throat nervously before replying, "An unexpected incident occurred Sensei, I apologise for my incompetence, I assure you I had the stone and was returning it to the school when I was suddenly attacked by a..."

But before Kelain could finish his explanation, Motoyama calmly cut him off, "I already know that, I'm asking about your friend over there," he said with a cold look at Aki that made him feel uneasy, Motoyama turned back to Kelain and continued, "Did your friend have something to do with it?"

Kelain hesitated for a moment and looked at Aki before answering, "No, he is an unawakened exorcist ..... who I just happened to come across and brought to the school".

Aki was shocked by his response and wanted to say something, but his eyes fell on the old man watching him. He smiled, but his Ora was dark, intimidating and confining, it felt as if he was looking down on them, watching them. Aki stopped and looked silently at the ground, he would trust Kelain on this one.

Motoyama was silent for a few moments, narrowing his eyes on both of them before he chuckled and smiled warmly, stroking his beard, "That's wonderful to know, it brings me joy to have such 'honest and honourable' students".

Kelain flinched at the comment, but still bowed in gratitude. Motoyama turned to Aki, "Kuma Akira?" Aki nodded, "So, you're an unawakened exorcist, what were the chances of you two meeting?" he said with a small chuckle.

Aki wanted to apologise on Hero's behalf but decided to keep quiet because of Kelain, but he still wondered why Kelain only told Motoyama half the truth, wouldn't he get into trouble?

"Would you like to become a student at Gyoko High?" asked Motoyama.

Aki was a bit surprised by how direct and sudden the question was.

He didn't know what to say, everything, from learning that he was some kind of ghost fighter, the missing Gyuko thing, almost dying and now being asked to join a paranormal fancy, probably rich school, all in the course of a few hours.

Even Kelain was surprised by Motoyama's sudden suggestion, he wondered if Motoyama was joking, it was most likely not the case, he would never joke about something like that, nor would he give out a position in the school so easily, was he suspicious, but Kelain had made sure that Nabara had only told him half of the story, just like he had, or did he see something in Akira?

Both Kelain and Motoyama waited calmly, quietly and patiently for Aki's answer. Aki felt insecure and looked at Kelain, he was grateful to Kelain for everything, he couldn't pay money to replace whatever that Gyuko thing was, he couldn't let Hero get into trouble, what if Motoyama got suspicious? All the questions and doubts flooded Aki's mind before he looked at Motoyama. He was silent for a few moments before he replied, "Yes....".

Motoyama smiled and chuckled happily and Kelain looked at him with a somewhat happy but confused expression.

"Gyuko Exorcist....Kuma Akira," Motoyama called him with a smile.

Aki smiled back.

 *

Later, they sat down and talked with Motoyama, and that day, Kuma Akira became a student at Gyoko High School, the school of exorcists, where his life changed in just a few hours, all because of an accident.

Where is the journey leading,' he asked himself, 'to death or to greatness?